Boniest part of my body thus far, the upper chest. Around the collar bone, and outward toward front delts. I do mainly incline chest press and flyes, but noticed this area “twitching” or something when I was slightly bent over washing my hands last night.
Question 1: WHY?
Question 2: What do I have to do to get this area to grow like my shoulders seem to be growing?
When you do incline press, are you bringing the bar to just below the chin and all the way down to the collarbone?
Also, according to Thibaudeau, you only need one notch up from the flat position to best work the “upper chest”. I don’t have that option with the incline press since I use the fixed rack, so the above technique was the only way I got my upper chest to feel soreness. I did have to go fairly wide with my grip, so I only use weights I can control 100% (slowww eccentric with pause if I want). And no arching because that defeats the purpose.
Use cable flyes, squeeze at the top, work on the mind-muscle connection because your delts can easily dominate flyes if you let them imo.
[quote]MCLAY101 wrote:
Boniest part of my body thus far, the upper chest. Around the collar bone, and outward toward front delts. I do mainly incline chest press and flyes, but noticed this area “twitching” or something when I was slightly bent over washing my hands last night.
Question 1: WHY?
Question 2: What do I have to do to get this area to grow like my shoulders seem to be growing? [/quote]
Devote the vast majority (if not 100%) of your Chest workout to upper-chest exercises.
Exercises to try:
Decline guillotine presses (I know, it’s completely counterintuitive, but it’s the single-best upper chest exercise I know).
One-arm Hammer Strength inclines, sitting nearly sideways on the machine so you’re pushing the handle across and up your body.
High-incline (~60 deg) reverse-grip/close-grip presses on the Smith machine.
Incline neutral-grip DB chest presses (ie, inclines with the DBs pressed against one another–don’t lock out at the top).
Thanks guys… I have recently been using a 70º angle, so I need to lower it! Thank you!!
Those exercises you mention @EyeDentist, I can safely say I have NEVER tried except for the last one you mention, and not quite like that!
This should be very helpful.
BTW, tried these yesterday… seemed to get some more action in that upper area:
had to remove link… anyway: the exercise is Leaning One-Arm Dumbbell Flye.
70Ã?° is really steep if you ask me. I actually use an angle like that for shoulder presses. Best thing I’ve done for upper chest development is prioritizing the use of dumbbells for chest, as well as lowering the angle. Never really got much from bars other than increased strength.
I use roughly 30Ã?° incline for DB presses as my first exercise. Ramp up to 1 or 2 top sets. Then, I drop the bench down to about 10Ã?° and do 5 straight sets of 8-10. Not only is the low incline better for upper chest, it’s a heck of a lot more comfortable and easier on the shoulders.
Here’s a pic of my results of using these. Not huge by any means, but my upper chest is fuller than it’s ever been.
Edit: I would suggest not flaring the arms using DBs and holding the arms and DBs at about 45° to the body.
WOW, @cueball, look pretty huge to me! I am noticing some changes since I lowered the incline. Was doing them with way too high angle. Going to lower it even more after reading what you wrote.
I hold the DBs with my elbows out, so this seems to take a lot of the effort off my shoulders (?) I can go MUCH heavier than I used to, and I’d rather be holding 2, 50-lb dumbbells than a 155 lb bar! I can really feel and see the difference.
Thanks for the info!
[quote]MCLAY101 wrote:
WOW, @cueball, look pretty huge to me! I am noticing some changes since I lowered the incline. Was doing them with way too high angle. Going to lower it even more after reading what you wrote.
I hold the DBs with my elbows out, so this seems to take a lot of the effort off my shoulders (?) I can go MUCH heavier than I used to, and I’d rather be holding 2, 50-lb dumbbells than a 155 lb bar! I can really feel and see the difference.
Thanks for the info![/quote]
Glad your are noticing a difference already. And as far as how you hold the DBs, well, whatever works best for one may not work best for another. Do what feels right. Good luck!
[quote]punnyguy wrote:
Also, according to Thibaudeau, you only need one notch up from the flat position to best work the “upper chest”.[/quote]
Yates said the same thing. And as for “working the upper pecs”… Everything points to it being a myth, yet it actually has an effect, somehow.
I advised a friend of mine who started training again a year or two ago (he used to be in great shape, competed as a teen, but a period of heavy drinking followed by cleaning up, and then having 4 kids kind of ruined that…) to just dump the flat BP altogether (hard for him, as it was his strongest point) and just do slight incline work and slight decline work or somewhat forward leaning dips.
And what do you know? He actually has very good pecs now.
Really wish I’d known all this sooner. Was with a trainer for 6 months and flat bench/bb was mostly the focus of chest. I always felt like I was working my shoulders and not my chest. I’m starting from ZERO, but I can tell my strength is growing and the moobs are looking less and less like they belong in a training bra-- since I started doing my own thing w/DBs and with the advice from you guys about lowering the incline.
I just remembered what I wanted to ask, and maybe there’s another thread for it. But what are you’s thoughts on Dips? Should I be focusing on these at all? I can BARELY go half-way on a basic dip, and leaning/chest variation is virtually impossible now.
Is this a measure of overall weaker upper body?
Should I keep working on them?
And should I do them FIRST? b/c when I do them LAST, forget it- they’re almost pointless!
I tried those weight-assist machines and those just made me ‘feel’ like I was doing a dip! I think it was mainly elbow training 
[quote]MCLAY101 wrote:
I just remembered what I wanted to ask, and maybe there’s another thread for it. But what are you’s thoughts on Dips? Should I be focusing on these at all? I can BARELY go half-way on a basic dip, and leaning/chest variation is virtually impossible now.
Is this a measure of overall weaker upper body?
Should I keep working on them?
And should I do them FIRST? b/c when I do them LAST, forget it- they’re almost pointless!
I tried those weight-assist machines and those just made me ‘feel’ like I was doing a dip! I think it was mainly elbow training ;)[/quote]
It’s an individual thing. Some people swear by dips; others hate them. Me, I am firmly in the latter camp. I have never gotten anything out of them (other than shoulder and elbow pain); thus, I never do them. From your description, it sounds like you’re in the same boat as me. So unless you plan on entering a Dips contest, I see no reason why you should make yourself do them.
HA! Good. Save my energy then. I think what I’ve felt before is the skin stretching in the chest, it’s not the muscle. Thanks E-D!